1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a friction-ring transmission having a friction ring, a first friction cone including a first friction-ring running surface, a second friction cone including a second friction-ring running surface and axial friction-ring securing means for preventing critical travel of the friction ring beyond the friction-ring running surface. More particularly, the present invention relates to a friction-ring transmission in which the friction ring is displaceable axially on the friction-ring running surfaces in a gap between the friction cones. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for producing a friction cone having a running surface for a friction ring of a friction-ring transmission, in which method the friction cone is forged from a metal material.
2. The Prior Art
Friction-ring transmissions of the class in question are well known from the prior art and are frequently used, especially in automotive engineering, as force and torque converters.
A friction-ring transmission of the class in question is known, for example, from International Patent Application WO 2007/025522 A2, which comprises substantially a first friction cone, a second friction cone and a friction body that actively establishes communication between these two friction cones, as well as other transmission elements. Whereas the first friction cone and the second friction cone can each rotate around their own axis of rotation at a fixed distance from one another, the friction body can be axially displaced at this distance along the axes of rotation of the friction bodies. For this purpose the friction body is mounted in a suitable positioning device. In order to improve the operating safety of the friction-cone transmission substantially, fluid means capable of acting between the main transmission elements are, on the one hand, supplied directly to the active regions of the main transmission elements, using a fluid-means supply. On the other hand, emergency running capabilities can be imparted to the friction-cone transmission with a redundant regulating mechanism, thus ensuring that the cone-type friction-ring transmission almost always remains operative, even if, for example, the positioning mechanism of the friction body can no longer function properly. In this way the operating safety of the entire friction-cone transmission can also be increased advantageously.